


Not-so-Fun-and-Games

by FandomLastsForever



Series: IronTai Week [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: A Beowolf had a territorial dispute with a pack of wolves, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Hide and Seek, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Picnics, a few bad puns and jokes are shared though, blood mention, death scare, no humans were harmed in the writing of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-17 00:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14177031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLastsForever/pseuds/FandomLastsForever
Summary: While having a picnic in the woods, Taiyang suggests a round of hide and seek. James doesn't like the idea, but agrees.Though now he wishes he hadn't.





	Not-so-Fun-and-Games

**Author's Note:**

> Day One of IronTai Week. I went with Fun and Games.  
> This is not as fun as it should have been.

_"Come on, it'll be great!"_

_"I don't know. It's getting pretty late, Tai. We should be heading back."_

_"One round, James. Please? Just one round and then we go home."_

_"Fine. But only one round."_

 

* * *

 

 

**_"TAIYANG! WHERE ARE YOU?!"_ **

James was starting to regret agreeing to this little game.

He didn't know what possessed him to agree to hide and seek in the woods with Tai, but he couldn't find it in him to say no. Exploring Patch was something they did all the time when he came to visit, and he never knew what to expect. Sometimes they'd travel along the river banks to the lake nearby, while other days it'd be trips to the cliffs to see who would spy the most planes in the distance.

But today was different. It was a picnic in the grove near the old crystal cave, followed by Taiyang running into the forest while James counted to twenty. He only realized too late that he should have picked a different activity, or put his foot down and had them head back to the house. Tai had hidden himself so well, it was almost impossible to find him in the fiery hues of the trees.

"Taiyang!" James cried out. "Tai, _come on!_ I give up, you win! Can we head back now? It's getting cold!"

As if to help prove his point, a harsh breeze buffeted him from the north. James could feel the metal joints in his right side begin to stiffen. The new upgrade wouldn't be ready for another week, so he had to put up with the chill for a little longer.

_If I could find Tai,_ he thought, _we could head back to the house and curl up on the couch. Maybe have some tea and cookies?_ James didn't usually partake in sweets, but he had to admit, Tai's baking sounded good right about now.

"Tai!" he called again. "Can you hear me?!"

No reply.

Deciding that the hunt was now beyond hope, James turned around and began to make his way back to the picnic site. With any luck Tai would get bored and make his own way back. He pulled his coat tighter around himself, trying to keep the chill off his arm as best he could. He got about half way there before seeing something hanging from a nearby tree.

It was a bright orange scarf, paired with a soft brown breather jacket.

"Tai?" James called out, grabbing the scarf and jacket. "Taiyang, where are you?!" He began to search the branches, checking the bushes, and continued to call out to him.

There was still no reply.

"Damn," he whispered. "Where could he have gone?"

He continued his search, wrapping Tai's scarf around his neck. The longer he looked, the further the sun began to set. James circled back to the picnic site hoping he'd find Tai there, only to find it abandoned.

"Taiyang Xiao Long!" James bellowed. "Get your ass back to the picnic! The game's over! You win!"

There was the sound of twigs breaking, and James looked up, hopeful he'd see a pair of soft blue eyes staring back at him.

Instead, there were deep, burning red.

_A Beowolf? Seriously?_ James quickly pulled out his gun, setting Tai's coat on the blanket behind him as he crouched down, preparing to lunge forward. He was sure he could take it in one shot, but didn't plan on rushing in blindly. He watched as the Grimm slowly approached, sizing it up. It wasn't an Alpha. Not yet at least. Another year or two and it'd be a bigger problem than it already was. It was missing it's left ear, and it had a few arrows in its back. And there was blood on its front claws. It looked recent.

And suddenly, everything in James began to feel numb.

_No,_ he thought. _He couldn't have. Tai would never...he couldn't have...he's a skilled Hunter, he couldn't have fallen to a lesser Grimm._

_Could he?_

The Beowolf let out a painful howl and began to run toward him. Without even thinking, James jumped out of the way and grabbed the beast by the tail, throwing it over his shoulder. Before it could recover, he shot all his rounds into its head. The Grimm faded away with a gentle hiss, and James collapsed to his knees, his hands shaking as he looked toward the tree line. There was a few patches of blood on the ground, so the logical part of him said to go follow it and find out if it was a person or a wild animal at the other end.

But the other part of him, the fear in him, was begging him not to go look.

_Get up, James. Get up. You have to see if it was him._

Reluctantly, he gathered his strength and followed the blood trail back into the woods. His heart pounded in his ears, and he felt as though he was about to faint. But he pushed through it, trying to bury any of the emotions before he found out the truth. He couldn't let his fears consume him.

_Not right now._

The trees began to thin out a little, and James soon found himself in a different grove. There were a few brambles growing on the other side, blocking off anyone from going in that direction. The trees were completely stripped of leaves, and in the center of the grove was a pile of fur and bone from what appeared to be a small pack of wolves. He let out a sigh of relief, biting back tears.

"So that's what it was," James huffed. "It was just animals fighting over territory."

_But if that's where the blood came from, then where did Taiyang disappear to? Is he okay? Why would he leave his coat and scarf? What happened?_

**_"JAMES!"_ **

James spun around, unsure if it was his imagination. "Tai?!"

**_"JAMES?! JAMES, WHERE ARE YOU?!"_ **

James began to sprint, following the sound of Taiyang's voice back to the picnic site. His entire right side was beginning to seize from the chill, but he couldn't care less about that. He only cared about finding him.

"Tai!" he called. "Over here!"

Taiyang appeared out of the tree line just as James returned to the blanket, tackling him to the ground in a tight embrace. "Thank god! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just had the wind knocked out of me by a dragon." James sat up, wrapping his metal arm as best as he could around Tai's waist. "Are you alright?"

Taiyang buried his face into James' left shoulder, trying to steady his breathing. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm more worried about you. I heard gunfire and I thought-"

"That was me. Ran into a Beowolf. It'd killed a pack of wolves in the next grove over." He pulled Taiyang closer, worried that if he let go he might vanish. "I thought it might have gotten you."

"Takes more than a Beowolf to lay a scratch on me," Tai chuckled. "Besides, scratching me is your job."

James let out a groan. "Did you have to make that joke? I thought you died, and here you are making dumb  jokes."

"You love my dumb jokes."

"Do I?"

Taiyang looked at him, perplexed. "You don't?"

"No, I do," James said. "I just love the person who tells them more." Taiyang's ears tinted pink and James leaned in for a chaste kiss. "God do I love you."

"You sentimental dummy," Tai sighed, giving his nose a light "boop". "Still, if there was one Beowolf, there might be more. We should head back to the house."

"Sounds like a good idea."

The two of them got up and began to pack their things. Coats and scarves were put in the back of the car along with the empty basket and blanket. Weapons were reloaded just to be on the safe side. As they got in, Tai turned on the heat so that James' metal joints could begin to relax. They both made a note to give his systems a quick check up as soon as they got back to the house. Last thing either of them wanted was for James to suffer a failure of any kind.

"By the way," James asked. "Why did you leave your coat on a tree?"

"Oh that?" Tai let out a nervous laugh, looking embarrassed. "I thought it would be a good distraction. I was running out of time to hide so I thought leaving my coat and scarf would help me get more time. Though it looks like it just caused you to worry."

"Just a little."

"Won't happen again."

"We both know that's a lie. You take games way too seriously."

"Says General Stick-up-the-butt."

"Whose stick?"

**_"James!"_ **

James let out a throaty chuckle, giving Tai a light poke in the side. "How about this. I'll stop making jokes, and you make me a fresh batch of cookies once we get home?"

"Sure," Tai agreed. "I'll need a taste tester to help me though."

"Of course."

They made it back to the house, and the rest of the evening went by in peace. The two of them baked cookies together, played a few rounds of fetch with Zwei, and ended the evening curled up on the sofa reading together. Tai had fallen asleep about halfway through the book. James pulled the blanket over him, lightly kissing his forehead. Taiyang snuggled in close, resting his head on James' metal shoulder.

Even after the scare earlier, this was still one of their better dates.

"Good night, Tai."

**Author's Note:**

> This started fluffy and turned into something else I swear to bob.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
